Helicopter toy



July 14, 1953 N. B. RUczYNsKl 2,645,055

HELICOPTER TOY Filed March 10. 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l lnveN'roR 5 NAecY B. BuczYNsm A'r-ronnev July 14, 1953 N. B. RUCZYNSKI HELICOPTER TQY Filed March 10, 1949 2 Sheets-$116652 rd 2 4 /a"""`""" Fler'. 5.

tilt with respect to the horizon.

= upon the body of the toy.

rotor bearing system Ais involved in the aspects', namely: (a) l v A v at the time the twisted wire is being forcibly operating upon the Patented July 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HELICOPTER ToY. Narcy B. Ruczynski, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Application March 10, 1949, Serial No. 80,624

1 claim. l

l This invention is associated with toys designed around the principles of ying machines generally known as helicopters In this type of machine, the weight of the toy is supported in the air by the action of lifting forces generated by a rotating propeller operating in a substantially horizontal plane; It is the custom to provide lateral forces .causing the movementof the toy in a direction parallel to the ground by causing the lifting'propeller, or rotor, to assume a slight A component of the total lresultant of force contributed by the rotor is thus disposed in a horizontal direction,

and creates the desired lateral or forward-moving force. The gyroscopic action due to the rotating blades is generally suiiicient to give a considerable stability to the angle of the rotor with respect to the horizon. Coupled with this effect the Weather-vane tendency on the part of the body of such a toy will cause the body to align itself with the direction of movement established by the angle of tilt. In this manner the flight attitude of such a toy is seen to be established for any given set of conditions. It may also be noted that it is the usual custom to impart rotational energy to the rotor system by the use of a twisted wire engaging a non-circular aperture in a disk which is in driving relationship with the rotor. As the wire is pulled through this aperture, rotation is imparted at a suii'iciently high velocity to cause the lifting action noted above. The inertia ofthe rotor which has been once brought up` to speed will'be suicient to continue'the rotation for a long enough period against the drag forces Yof theair to assure that the toy remains in flight -for a-considerable length of time. i

The present invention is particularly concerned with that portion of such a toy as is described above which relates to the support of the rotor In view of the relatively fragile nature of such a toy when assembled, it is considered very desirable to provide a whichnot only has the necessary operating characteristics, but is capable of -being disassembled so that .the components of the device may be packaged in a container of practical size. The bearing action which present invention has two the bearing action involved pulled through the driving system, and (b) the -bearing action occurring when the device is in ilight and supported by the aerodynamic forces lifting rotor. The present invention further provides a bear- 2 ing system which will permit a considerable angle of tilt Aoi' the axis or rotation of the rotor with respect to the axis of the rotor-supporting system. The action of the law of gravity will generally cause the center of gravity of the body of the device to be disposed upon a line directly below the center of the rotor bearing. There will be a tendency to-assume this position regardless of the particular angle of tilt of the revolving rotor with respect to the horizon. If such a bearing does not provide for this angle of tilt, the gyroscopic forces operating upon the rotor and the aligning effect of the law of gravity upon the mass of the body of the toy will conflict to form a binding action in the bearing which will` con.- siderably increasev the resistance to rotation thereof and dissipate the rotating energy of the propeller in friction. The obvious results of this characteristicr is the failure of the toy to maintain flight for any considerable length oftime, and also'to cause the body of the device to be rotated in response to the friction noted above. If this frictional engagement at the bearing is considerable, the weather-vane tendency 'of the body will not be sufficient to maintain a relatively xed direction of the body with respect to the tilt of the rotor.

The preferred form of the present inventiony comprises a substantially vertical post which is detachably mounted on the body of the toy,this

post being provided witha journal and bearing portion adjacent its upper end. The journal por- A'tion of the device is adapted to cooperate with the central opening of the rotor and maintain the vlateral alignment of the vrotor with respect to the body of the toy. In addition to this lateral bearing relationship, the preferred form of this invention provides a thrustbearing relationship for supporting the weight of the toy during the flight thereof. A second thrust-bearing system is provided for counteracting the thrust generated by the user of the toy as the twisted wire is pulled through the driving system. kPreferably the two thrust-bearing surfaces are provided by opposite sides of a metallic flange disposed' substantially transversely to the axis of thesupporting post. The journal section noted aboveY is preferably disposed directly below this flangaso4 that as the toy comes to flight position the propeller or rotor tends to climb up the journal section until the under side of the flange terminates such upward movement and forms the thrust-bearing through which the lift vforces are transmitted.

.The driving means utilized in the present lnaround the outer diameter of the bearing flange.

and to engage suitable portions of the rotor to drive the same. Preferably the supporting column is of such a diameter as to permit-.the passage of the central opening of the rotor alongv its entire length with the exception of the diameter of the lifting fiange. With this arrangement, the rotor may be said to be confined between the said flange and the retaining action of the en- L gaging legs of the driving clip. When the device is at rest in the vertical position, the weight of the rotor is transferred through the engaging legs to the top side of the bearing flange which cooperates with the under surface of the central area of the driving clip. As the twisted wire is pulled through the column to generate the rotational speed of the rotor, the pressure of engagement between the upper or top part of the ange and the under side of the driving clip is considerably increased, but as soon as the wire is pulled through the orifice the aerodynamic forces operating upon the rotor will cause the rotor to move to contact the under side of the flange and thereby lift the toy from the starting position on top of the manually-retained spool through which the conventional twisted wire is'pulled.

The features of the present invention will be further analyzed by a discussion of the particular embodiment which is illustrated in the aci companying drawings. In these drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a completely assembled helicopter toy embodying the present invention, with the rotor and bearing system shown in sections. v

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the driving clip utilized in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of ther thrustiiange of the central column, and the center section of the rotor and the driving clip shown in a position taken by these components while the toy is in flight.

Figure 4 shows the components of. Figure 3 with the maximum amount of tilt permitted by this particular bearing system which permits the rotor to be slanted to contribute a lateral, or forward-moving force.

Referring to Figure 1, the assembly is shown in the starting position with the twistedV wire I0 and the holding spool I I in position to be grasped by the user. The toy itself essentially comprises the body portion I2, which is provided with the column-engaging elements I3 and I4. Directly to the left or rear of the column-engaging elements, the body portion I2 is provided withthe .fl--

tail-boom I5 and the vertical stabilizer I6. For the sake of appearance, imitation windows are formed in the body portion I 2 as indicated at I1, I8 and I9.

The central column assembly 20 is received as shown within the engaging elements I3 and I4 with sufficient grip to retain the weight of the body portion I2 so that the device may remain in an assembled position during flight. It may be noted that the force generated by pulling the 4 twisted wire downwardly through the column to begin the rotation of the propeller passes through the column 20 and is transmitted through the engagement of the column with the holding spool.

As the twisted wire I0 is pulled in the starting process, it cooperates with the non-circular opening 2| in the driving clip 22. The opening 2I Y causes the driving clipgtobe rotated through `lengagement withA the spiral` of the wire,and this rotation is imparted to the lifting rotor through the engagement of the legs 23 with the central portion of the rotor as shown. In addition to Vthe torque contributed by the twisted wire to the driving clip 22, a considerable down-load is applied to the clip which must be transmitted through. the. thrust-bearing formed by the upper portion of the transversely disposed flange 24. When the wire has been completely pulled through the driving clip 22, the lifting action of the rotor causes therotor to move upwardly and Yto contact the under side of the transverse flange 24- and apply the lifting force thereto. It will be noted that the transversely disposed flange 24 is vformed in a somewhat conical surface, and that this surface cooperates with a similarly formed surface on the driving clip. The purpose of this engagement is to create a tendency for the driving clip 22 to be aligned with respect to the axis of the central column.

Disposed immediately below the transverse flange 24, the journal section 26. is provided for cooperation with the central aperture 21 of the rotor. It will be noted that the bearing portion formed by thisv central aperture 21 is axially short, and that the journal section 26 has considerable length. These characteristics, coupled with the clearance provided between the internal diameter of the aperture 21 and the outside diameter of the journal section 26, permit a con- Siderable angle of tilt to take place between the axis of rotation of the rotor and the axis of the supporting column. AThis condition is illustrated in Figure 4Aof the drawings. Figure 3 of the drawings illustrates the position of these components with the toy in a flight position in which the rotor is contributing no lateral components. This situation is associated with the condition known as hovering The driving clip 22 is preferably provided with engaging legs 23 which are sufficiently yieldable to engage the central portion 25 of the rotor and to. retain the same due to the said yielding action. To facilitate the assembly of the device, the engaging legs are provided preferably with the starting surfaces 2 8 which are the first to 'contact the central portion of the rotor as the clip is forced into. engagement with the same. The slant relationship of these starting surfaces 28 causes the yielding of the legs sufliciently to permit the same to snap into engagement with the rotor into the position shown. The disassembly of the device shown in Figure l is acomplished by first removing the twisted wire and spool from cooperating relationship with the toy, then relmoving the column from the column-engaging elements I3 and I4, removing the driving clip from engagement 'with the rotor, and then sliding the rotor downwardly with respect to the column until removed therefrom. Asv thus disassembled, the device is easily packaged and is capable of being reassembled by an unskilled user who can follow a very simple set of directions.

litv will be noted Athat the preferred form of the journal section 26 shown in the drawings is provided with a downwardly-decreasing taper. The upper end of the journal is adapted for good running clearance when the axis of the rotor is the same as the axis of the journal. When the tilted relationship develops as shown in Figure 4, the taper of the journal gives more freedom than would a cylindrical surface having parallel elements.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have been illustrated in the ac'- companying drawings and described herein are for illustrative purposes only. The definition of the present invention is set forth in the claim appended hereto in which it is the intent of the inventor to claim the entire scope of the invention to which he is entitled in view of the prior art.

I claim:

A helicopter toy, comprising: a tubular column having a ange forming a thrust bearing at the normally uppermost end thereof and a tapered journal section having a downwardly-decreasing diameter disposed coaxially with and immediately below said thrust bearing; a lifting rotor having a shallow hub provided with a circular central aperture forming a bearing of a size adapted to rotatably engage the largest portion of said journal section and bear against the un-a der surface of said flange; and driving means for said rotor including a downwardly dished transverse plate adapted to Ibear against the upper surface of said flange having a non-circular central aperture for engaging a matching twisted wire driver and disposed on the opposite side of said flange from sai-d hub in axially spaced relationship establishing substantial clearance between said lange and said hub and plate, said plate being detachably secured to and spaced from said hub by integral leg means extending radially from said plate, outwardly around said flange, and down to and attached to said hub.

NARCY B. RUCZYNSKI.

References cited in the fue of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Voellmecke Feb. 2, 1932 Butcher Mar. 31, 1936 Number 

